A Desperate Hope
by Veggiechick
Summary: Six years after the Titan War, Percy and Annabeth still have not escaped from the problems of being demigods. How does Annabeth cope when Percy is targeted and killed? One-shot for now, but will be continued if I become so inclined.


_**Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan, though we may be equally as sadistic writers.**_

"Nico!" Annabeth hurried as quickly as she could with a heavily pregnant stomach towards the Chid of Hades. She looked as if she hadn't slept in many days, with very red wide-open eyes and tangled hair thrown into a lopsided ponytail.

"Nico!" She caught up with the eighteen-year-old, out of breath. Nico stiffened and turned around.

"Hey Annabeth," he said bracingly. "How are you feeling?"

"Great now!" There was an almost manic look in her eyes, and and eager desperation in her voice. "I've been so stupid—Percy isn't lost. We can go and get him!"

Nico swallowed. Percy had been dead for three days. He and Annabeth had been living in their newly-bought, New York apartment for two years with very little trouble from monsters. And then, a few nights ago, they had come—telekhines, hellhounds—the works. Percy had held out for hours, strengthened by the need to protect his wife and unborn child. Whoever had launched the attack had planned well, though; phone lines were cut and the two were all alone in the apartment. They had been cornered and, with Annabeth unable to fight, Percy was overwhelmed. After they had defeated him, the monsters had disappeared into the night, offering no explanation, no clue, and leaving an utterly distraught widow behind.

All this Nico had learned from Chiron, the only one Annabeth would speak to since she had stumbled, bloody, across the Camp's border, and headed straight for the Big House. That was three nights ago and, until now, she had not left.

"Nico listen to me." Annabeth called his attention back to her while placing a hand in the small of her back. She still wore the red coral that Percy had given her six years ago. "Percy's in the underworld, right? Well, we'll convince Hades to let him out! He owes Percy from the Titan War. And you—you're his son. He'll be sure to—"

"Annabeth," Nico said softly, "I'm not sure if…" He swallowed again. In the past years he had grown taller than her, able to look down at her with ease. He noticed the glint of the wedding ring on her finger, and the matching glint of hope in her eyes. But he knew that the dead could not be brought back. He had learned that lesson painfully and early.

"Lets…let's talk to him first," he said against his good judgment. He didn't want to see that dead look that she had had when she came into camp. Desperation wasn't perfect, but it was an emotion, and it was more than she had shown the past few times he had tried to talk to her. He couldn't bring Percy back from the dead, but maybe Percy could convince Annabeth to stop trying, as his sister Bianca had convinced him all those years ago.

"Alright," the blonde said, her expression rapidly changing from annoyance at the fact that Nico was not immediately complying with her plan, back to that one of eager desperation when she realized that she would be seeing Percy again. "We'll let him know we're coming to get him."

She grabbed Nico's arm and dragged him towards the woods. They stopped to raid the kitchens before walking through the woods to find a suitable pit. Annabeth walked determinedly and quickly seeing not to care how many monsters she woke, and Nico had to stay close in order to stop her from tripping. He carried his Stygian Iron sword at his side, ready to grab it if the necessity arose.

"This will do," aNnabeth said impatiently, stopping before a long dried up pond. Nico began to dump the food in, chanting, "Let the dead taste again. Let them rise and take this offering. Let them remember."

Annabeth shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as ghosts began to shimmer into sight. Nico, much stronger than he had been at eleven, was easily able to hold off the ghosts with his presence until the right one stepped forward.

_This is a page break. Say hello. Now continue reading._

Annabeth gasped as she saw Percy come forward and drink. She could still feel the pain of losing him like a large, lumpy, hot piece of coal under her heart. She tried to say his name, to call out to him, but found that she couldn't.

Percy turned towards her, wearing his orange t-shirt, jeans, and Camp half-Blood necklace that now had a wedding ring in the very center. Suddenly, she remembered how scared he had been of losing it; his ADHD often made it difficult for him to keep up with things. She had suggested that he string it on his necklace, and he had never lost it since.

It turned out that no words were needed. Annabeth felt tears, the first she had cried since his death, as she ran towards him…

…and almost fell into the food-filled pond. Nico grabbed her arm to keep her from tumbling in, then released her as soon as she was steady. She had run right through her husband.

"Percy…" Annabeth said, heartbroken and turning to face him again. "Percy…"

"Annabeth." His face was full of pain. The usual mischievous grin that he usually wore was absent.

"Don't worry, Percy," she said with determination. "We're going to get you out. Nico and I—"

"Annabeth, don't." Percy looked like he was in pain.

"Wh-what?" Annabeth was too shocked to argue.

"You can't get me out of here, or rescue me. I…I'm dead, Annabeth."

"No," Annabeth refused to believe what he was saying. This was Percy, her Perseus Jackson—enemy of titans and monsters, a man strong enough to carry Achilles curse, and then give it up. He couldn't be dead—he just couldn't be.

"I _am_, and you've got to accept that."

"I _can_ save you, stopped acting like you're doomed or—"

"You can't. No one can."

"Orpheus saved his wife!" Only Annabeth's desperation to have her husband back could have caused her to get that myth wrong.

"Orpheus tried and failed. You know this, Annabeth. And I think you know that you can't save me either." Percy tried to touch her face, but the tips of his fingers evaporated in her body heat. He put his hands back in his pockets.

"You have to move on, raise our child, build wonderful buildings…you can't be hung up over me for the rest of your life."

"It isn't fair." Annabeth stamped her foot and said with tears in her voice. "We won. We beat the Titans, the giants, Gaea. We made it out of Tartarus. _Together_. We were supposed to get a happily ever after."

"Life isn't a story Annabeth. Not everything is certain…except that I love you. Always know that. I love you so much."

"I love you too." Annabeth said. Tears were now freely streaming down her face.

"If it's a boy, do me a favor and don't name him Perseus." Percy tried to grin. "Always hated my name."

"Too bad, Seaweed Brain. I'm naming him Perseus—after his father." Annabeth stuck out her chin, still stubborn even now.

Percy's smiled, faintly, but genuinely. He looked back towards the other ghosts.

"They're getting restless. I have to go soon."

Annabeth wanted to ask him to stay. She wanted to _make_ him stay. But she knew that she couldn't. So instead she asked, "Will I ever see you again?"

"Someday. I'll wait for you in Elysium. I'll be watching out for you and our baby. And…" Percy swallowed and his eyes filled with ghostly tears. "And tell our baby that I love them too."

"I'll tell them every day," she promised fiercely.

Percy straightened his hunched shoulders.

"Now stand still. I can only do this if you're very still.

Annabeth stood still and watched as Percy leaned closer to her. She tried not to breath as she felt his lips touch hers, so that his face wouldn't evaporate. She felt his hand on her stomach and their little "surprise" kicked in response.

Percy pulled back openly crying. Annabeth had seemed to run out of tears. He turned to Nico.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around."

Nico nodded. "It's been an honor, Percy."

"The same to you. Even though you could be a real pain in the πυγή."

He turned back to Annabeth.

"Goodbye Wise Girl. I love you. We'll see each other again."

"I love you too." Annabeth's arms were once again wrapped around her stomach. She closed her eyes as, with a grunt of effort, Nico let go and all the ghosts disappeared.

_**A/N: I just want to apologize. That was terribly sad. I just woke up one morning and this idea comes crawling into my head (without an invitation I might add) so that I'm actually crying into my pillow when I'm supposed to be getting up and getting ready. Then, the whole day, I couldn't stop thinking about it and it was making me sad. And the only way to get rid of it was to write it down. So, yeah, please don't hate me too much.**_

_** On a slightly different note, Annabeth mentioned that Nico had had a crush on her in Mark of Athena and I started thinking about the two together, but the only way I could see it was if Percy was dead. Otherwise, Annabeth would be with him. So you might see some subtle Nicabeth shipping here if you squint your eyes. I'm still a strong Percabeth shipper, but sometimes I feel like the characters are telling me what to write instead of me telling them what to do. Yeah, okay, I think I've rambled enough now. Thank you to all of those who read this and don't hate me for writing this. **_

_** Oh! Before I forget, that greek word means, basically, butt. So yeah.**_


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